Ralph (Oracle of Ages)
Ralph is the major supporting character in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, and is the loyal guardian and childhood friend of the Oracle, Nayru. He serves as the character who spends much of the game providing helpful information to Link at various points. He hails from the country of Labrynna. Personality and Traits Ralph is a very headstrong and short tempered young man who had protected Nayru when he was younger, and shows resentment towards people like Link, whom he specifically formed a rivalry with and claimed that he has no need Link's help. He is shown to be very protective of Nayru, when Veran, (who had taken control of Impa), possesses her, he makes a threat to kill Veran if she doesn't release Nayru, yet he backs down when Veran tells him that it will be Nayru who will be hurt if he did. He often boasts that he will be the one who will rescue Nayru whenever he encounters Link, though all he does is wander around, hoping to get a chance to fight the evil sorceress and do so, and his arrogance shows itself to be his fatal flaw as it nearly caused him to die in his confrontation with Veran, literally underestimating her. While he scarcely thinks about the consequences of his actions, Ralph does show a remorseful and selfless side when Link saved Nayru (leading his Queen Ambi to be possessed by Veran), he acknowledged the way he behaved and apologizes to Link for not being of much help to him. He also shows a display of his willingness to sacrifice his life to protect Nayru, as in the case of his confrontation with his possessed ancestor, but that is done more out of foolishness, as he could have used the Mystery Seeds to force Veran to abandon the queen rather than outright killing her and risking his own existence. In the manga, Ralph is given a larger role, providing greater comic relief, and is more temperamental at times when it comes to Nayru being in danger, and often lashes out at Link, even when he is slightly provoked. Physical Appearance Ralph has long flipped red hair which covers his right eye, and has fair skin, and green eyes. For clothing, he wears a blue pointed cap which stands up with a curve at the end with the rims being a golden yellow rim, and a cloak which covers his neck and body with a red gem holding it together. The cloak has the same colors as the hat; but it has a light blue triangular design in the gold background. He also wears a light blue tunic with magenta rims, a green belt with a gold buckle, and pants of the similar matching colors as the tunic. He wears light brown clog-shaped boots for footwear. Biography Ralph first appeared sitting next to Nayru, who was singing to a group of animals who stopped to listen. When Link and Impa (whom was unknowingly under Veran's influence) arrive in the clearing, he introduces himself to Link and confidently refuses his help. Seconds later, Veran The Sorceress of Shadows reveals herself and quickly takes control of Nayru. Ralph pulls out his sword and warns that he will kill her if he does not release her, only for Veran to remind him that he will only hurt Nayru, forcing him to hold back as Veran travels to the past to ruin it. Ralph is determined to save her and used the Time Portal to give chase to Veran, and informs Link that he will get to Veran first. In spite of his heroic intentions, Ralph only runs around in hopes he would get an encounter with Veran, and providing information about what's happening in the areas, as Link searches for the Essences of Time. Later, he notifies Link that due to Queen Ambi having left her palace, which loosens the security greatly, and rushes off as he finally saw the perfect opportunity to rescue his friend also letting Link know about a secret passage in the castle's gardens that they can take. However, it was Link who sets Nayru free from Veran's evil influence. The Sorceress possesses Queen Ambi when she arrived at the scene and orders the guards to imprison the trio, but Nayru wakes up and came to the rescue, sending the two and herself to the present. Ralph realized that all he did was run around and apologized to Link for it, resolving to go back to the past to kill Veran's host to save Labrynna and protect the Oracle of Ages. Later on, Impa discovers his familial connection with Queen Ambi tells Link that she tried to stop him from taking her life, but to no avail. Ralph is willing to lose his life to preserve Labrynna's history and ensure Nayru's safety, but he underestimates just how powerful the Sorceress of Shadows actually is. He reaches the Black Tower to settle things but is easily defeated just as Link caught up to him. Veran spares his life and provokes them that if Queen Ambi dies, so will Ralph. During the battle, Link uses the Mystery Seeds to set the queen free and defeats Veran. Down but not out, Veran drags Link to the top room to settle the score once and for all, this time Link destroys the sorceress for good. After the battle, Link is greeted by everyone. Ralph also began to appreciate Link and treated him with respect and even wants Link to help him improve his sword skills, so he can better protect Nayru by himself. After returning to the present, he is seen training with Link and tries to perform the Spin Attack, but it turns into more than what it is and spins uncontrollably, leaving him dizzy after that. In the Linked Ending, he is seen running with Nayru and the other children. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages manga Ralph appears shortly after Veran travels to the past (having already possessed Nayru, so she can change history for the worst and erase Link's existence) and asks Link where Nayru went. They introduce each other (With Ralph making a snide remark of Link's title of 'Hero') before he asked again about his friend's whereabouts and is devastated when when Link tells him what happened to her. He proceeds to accuse Link for the incident and for trying to seduce her, but Impa wakes up, telling him that Link was not at fault, and blames herself for getting Nayru abducted. Ralph takes notice of the Harp of Ages in Link's hands and the two fight over it, leading Impa to bark at them, telling them to stop the scuffle. Ralph strummed the harp by accident and starts to bring them to the past, but Link goes alone as he kicked Ralph away and leaves without him. Enraged and desperate to save Nayru, he decides to find another way to the past. Later, Ralph manages to buy the Harp of Ages (due to Link losing it when he was captured) much to his joy and wastes no time traveling to the past and falls on top of Link, who was in the middle of a battle with Veran, who still has Nayru under her influence. Link impulsively strums the harp when Nayru attacks them, and ended up on a deserted island (and most likely the present). The two construct a raft and escaped the island, and Link asked him about Nayru's weakness, but Ralph denies that Nayru had any, leading to another bout of bickering and found themselves in the midst of a violent storm, and Ralph is revealed to not have experience with rowing which points to the fact that he has the aristocratic status, and Link sees a ship and calls for help. Once on board, they noticed that the ship's pirate captain and his crew are skeletons and Ralph nervously thought that it would have been better to stay in the water as they were brought before their leader, Cap'n. When they ask about Veran's weakness, Cap'n insists he will only answer theirs if they answer his. Upon seeing Link's sword, he recalls the time he became a knight and had sworn his loyalty to a young woman. He then makes a request to Ralph to play a song when he sees the Harp of Ages and Ralph does so, but warns that he asked for it, aware that it will cause a time travel, but is shocked that it didn't trigger one. Cap'n recognized the song and shares a tragic love story about him and his lady and how their relationship came to end, and he now realized his love for her and he orders his crew to set the course to Labrynna, disregarding the danger of their ship sinking. Ralph and Link were tossed about due to the excessive rocking and the latter finds the ship's log. They realized that Cap'n had been at sea forever and they have to escape. Cap'n takes notice of the escape attempt and issues an attack on the boys, with Ralph telling them that he still has to save Nayru. Link sword fights with Cap'n, and manages to talk some sense into him, while he is stuck at sea, they will patch everything for his crew and his beloved lady. Cap'n realized this and gives them a lifeboat and a locket with a photo of Queen Ambi, the woman that he fell in love with, and charges them to pass the message to the queen that he will love her for eternity and tells them Veran's weakness before sending them on their way. Ralph wonders if they will ever make it, and Link replies that even when they have a very slim chance, they will persist until they do reach Labrynna. With that, Link and Ralph return to the past. Upon arrival, they meet up with Sir Raven (who happens to be Link's ancestor) and Ralph quickly jumps in front of Link and introduces himself as Nayru's old friend and wanted to join them on their cause. Link points out that Ralph is of little use since he can't row a boat and the latter shoots back that he can row better than Link, but Raven breaks the argument and tells them they have to get back to the Hidden Village, which caught the interest of Ralph. Unfortunately, Veran, who temporarily left Nayru's body, was silently eavesdropping and jumps inside Ralph's body, making him flinch. When asked what was wrong, "Ralph" assures that nothing is off, and Veran is shocked that Link found out her weakness as she travels back to the village with Link and Raven. Upon arriving, a young girl named Roperi was the first person to notice something wrong with Ralph's current condition, but Link (still unaware of the situation) brushes aside her worries and tells her that her father, Jacob is fine. Veran learns more about the village and also realized that Sir Raven is Link's ancestor. Later, that night. Link reveals to everyone in the house that Veran's greatest weakness is the Mystery Seeds and Raven happened to have the seeds they needed and plans their attack tomorrow morning. While everyone is asleep, Veran sneaks into the room where the Mystery Seeds were and burns them in the fire, cackling at the fact that she thwarted their plot. Link and the others are rudely awaked to someone hitting the floor, Veran already forced herself out of Ralph's body, and the latter explained everything, as he remembered being used as her puppet, much to Link's dismay. The young hero frantically pounds on Raven's door, telling them that they have been exposed. Before returning to Nayru, Veran orders Ramrock to destroy the village, with people fleeing in terror as the giant golem ravaged the peaceful village. Link dispatches the monster with relative ease, and he, Ralph, and the villagers could only watch in horror as several guards capture Raven to have him put to death at Ambi's Palace, putting Link's existence on the line. After witnessing the events, Ralph greatly matures as he reconciles with Link and joins him on horseback so they can stop the unfair death penalty. They stop the executioner from killing Link's ancestor and invade the palace, infuriating Veran, who orders the soldiers to kill them, but the duo easily fight them off, with Link preventing her from spearing Raven and pushes her away and Ralph gives off a surprised "Queen Ambi?" as soon as he saw her. Link approaches the queen and hands her the locket with her photo on it and she is shocked and asked where he got it. Link passes the message that Cap'n will love her for all eternity, leading Queen Ambi to explain the reason why she had everyone build the tower so he wouldn't forget her whenever he sees it. Since learning of his undying love, Ambi no longer needs the tower, so she cancels both the tower's construction and Raven's execution after realizing that Nayru (Veran) was manipulating her into being more of a tyrant and caused her subjects much suffering and thanks Link for helping her realize the truth and the citizens rejoice. With the tides turned against her, Veran leaves Nayru and takes control of Queen Ambi, cutting the celebration short, ordering the citizens to resume assembling the tower and orders the guards to capture Link, Ralph, and Raven. Thankfully, the newly freed Nayru awakens just in time and warps the trio into the present-day Labrynna. Ralph and Nayru have an emotional reunion, and Link thanks the Oracle of Ages for saving them, and realizes that Veran is still at large and they don't the Mystery Seeds (due to the villainess burning them earlier). Nayru calmly reassures them that they can still find them, and they go back in time. They enter a cave, where all the villagers are awaiting their fate. There, Nayru takes the plant pot from Roperi's hands and tells them (to everyone's astonishment) that this plant is a Mystery Tree, which will grow Mystery Seeds and she will help hasten the growth, given her role as the Oracle of Ages as she can control time. But Ralph reminds them that Veran will still be able to complete the tower. He makes his decision to fight Veran alone and tells Link that he sort of thought of him as a friend before running off. Horrified, Nayru reveals that Ralph is the descendent of Queen Ambi and if he succeeded in killing her to stop the sorceress, it would result in him losing his existence as well, leaving Link shocked at the revelation. Ralph arrives at the tower and pulls out his rapier, ordering Veran to stop this travesty. Veran taunts him that she knew of his family line, due to her possessing both him and Ambi, and tells him that he will no longer exist if she is slain. Despite knowing this, he refused to have a terrible mark on his family line and makes it crystal clear he is willing to kill Ambi and die himself to prevent it. Veran realized that Queen Ambi is incapable of utilizing magic the way Nayru can, on Ambi's part of being a regular human. With no other choice, she retreats and orders everyone to hasten the construction with Ralph in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Nayru was successful in the tree's production of the Mystery Seed and Link takes Raven's horse, Puini and a child gives him his Seed Shooter. Ralph corners Veran as the latter taunts him again that her plan will be brought to fruition, even after her death and beckons him to kill her. Just as Ralph was about to stab the queen, Link arrived and fires the Mystery Seed at her, successfully hitting and releasing the queen from Veran's control. Ralph angrily criticized Link for his involvement just as he was about to heroically die, but he quickly settled down as Link playfully teased him that he can help do it himself. Veran is outraged that Link's actions revealed her true spider form, which she deeply hates and a heated battle ensued, with Raven taking the unconscious Queen Ambi outside while Link deals with Veran. Raven saves Link from being killed along with the evil witch and they both slay her. Ralph somehow got himself trapped in the spider webs, much to his chagrin. However, Veran had already sent the Twinrova sisters, Koume and Kotake her last lamentation just as she dies, lighting the Flame of Sorrow. With both the Flame of Destruction and Sorrow, the twins then sacrifice themselves, reviving Ganon in the process, though only as a mindless beast as the ritual wasn't fully completed. The beast destroys the tower, causing Link, Raven, and Ralph to fall off of it. Link's Triforce reacted and they miraculously survived (with Ralph denoting surprise from this); Ganon survives as well, and the battle continues. Soon, a redeemed Queen Ambi arrives with her army and joins them in their final showdown against Ganon and defeats it, and the people of Labrynna celebrate their victory. The queen asks Raven for her forgiveness and vowed to make the kingdom into one full of joy. She expresses gratitude to Link, Raven, Ralph, and Nayru for their help and is sad to see them go. Ralph calls her his great great great grandmother, much to her annoyance at his rudeness. They later bid Raven a farewell as they return to the present. At Hyrule Castle, Princess Zelda praises Nayru and Ralph for their efforts. While Nayru gives Link the credit for being brave, Ralph says that he himself is the smart one, making Impa chuckle. Trivia * Strangely, in the game, Ralph's hair is black, while in the official artwork, it is red. * In the manga alone, Ralph does get possessed by Veran. * It happens to run in the family that those in Ralph's family tree have forked eyebrows, as both Queen Ambi and Ralph have this trait. * Ralph was the first character to utilize what is later dubbed the Hurricane Spin. This move carried over to other games like The Wind Waker, A Link to the Past/Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks. 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